Microsoft have released a rare out-of-band update to fix a vulnerability in the .NET Framework. The update comes weeks before the next regularly scheduled "Patch Tuesday" in mid-January, and addresses a flaw that could allow attackers to exploit hash tables to perform a denial-of-service (DoS) attack against a website built with Microsoft's ASP.NET application framework.

DoS attacks usually require thousands of malware-controlled systems in a botnet to overwhelm a site with requests. This opening would allow an attacker to cripple a vulnerable site by sending a certain type of HTTP request. Each of these requests would consume 100-percent of one CPU core. As you can imagine, the more of these requests, the more CPU power that is zapped away.

Microsoft says "Attacks targeting this type of vulnerability are generically known as hash collision attacks." They also added that the problem is not specific to Microsoft's Web services as it affects PHP 5, Java, .NET, v8 and even PHP 4, Ruby and Python. The people behind these platforms will release updates soon, but the holidays will dampen these efforts.

Samsung's Galaxy Note, the uber-large, but curvaceously sexy Galaxy Note, which sports a 5.3-inch screen is a kind of tabletphone hybrid. This hasn't stopped the device from shipping more than 1 million in Europe and Asia, before it even hits the shores of the U.S.

The rapid sales of the device show Samsung that creating a new market for something between a smartphone and tablet PC. Samsung says that the speed of sales should accelerate even further going into the new year when it becomes available in the U.S.

Samsung also note that the Financial Times reviewed the Galaxy Note highly, commenting it as:

Earlier this week we attended a Thecus lunch here in Taipei where we were served up an exclusive look at its upcoming N4800 NAS.

You can think of the N4800 as a refresher of the N4200 PRO NAS which did very well for Thecus this year. It has been upgraded with a faster Intel Atom processor that includes with it a faster GPU as well as chipset and USB 3.0.

Vincent from Thecus was kind enough to go on video as you can see above where he also introduced us to the dual bay N2800 NAS. Both new NAS as we've mentioned come with HDMI output which is able to output HD video at 1080p as well as allow you to use the NAS admin interface and other NAS applications directly on your television.

DigiTimes are reporting that Apple is going to unveil its next-generation iPad in January, where it will also unveil two different versions of the iPad. DigiTimes' sources claim that it is scheduled for iWorld which is being held on January 26, 2012.

The new models are set to join the existing iPad 2 to demonstrate Apple's iPad series targeting the entry-level, mid-range, and high-end market segments, the sources claimed. The sources said:

The iPad 2 will be competing directly with Amazon's kindle Fire in the price-sensitive market segment, while the new models will focus on the mid-range and high-end segments respectively.

Amazon have had a very Merry Christmas when it comes to Amazon Kindle sales over the holiday season. Amazon customers purchased millions of Kindle Fires and millions of Kindle e-readers. 2011 was the best holiday ever for the Kindle family, with one million Kindle devices sold each week.

Amazon CEO and founder, Jeff Bezos, says "We are grateful to our customers worldwide for making this the best holiday ever for Kindle." He continues pointing out the fact that the #1 and #4 best-selling Kindle books released in 2011 were both published independently by their authors using Kindle Direct Publishing.

Three Kindle-based products took the top three spots on Amazon's best seller list, with the Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch and Kindle taking out the top three spots, respectively. Amazon's latest, Kindle Fire, was the most gifted and wished for product on Amazon this season, and was also the top selling product in the UK, France, Spain and Italy. Kindle Fire also took out the best selling product on Amazon's mobile site.

QNAP Systems, Ind. have just announced V3.6 Beta NAS management software for its Turbo NAS series, which provides some highly anticipated features such as a VPN Server, LDAP Server, and Proxy Server, cloud music and photo sharing with a web browser, enhanced backup features, and more. Firmware V3.6 beta also includes a new version of MyCloudNAS 1.2, QPKG center and more compatible IP camera.

Firmware V3.6 beta also bakes in some new business-class features, such as VPN Server. VPN Server offers businesses with a cost-saving way to create a secure and private network. LDAP Server simplifies mass account management and saves business' IT hardware expenditure, time, and stress. The Proxy Server provided with the "Squid" QPKG provides the IT administrator a great solution to manage network loading, yet maintain network security.

Jason Hsu, product manager for QNAP says:

Biostar have officially launched their first Sandy Bridge-E (LGA2011) motherboard, after the previously-leaked TPower X79 made the rounds a few weeks ago. We posted about it last month and now the board has been made official.

The Biostar TPower X79 has the standard ATX form-factor and features support for Intel's latest LGA 2011 socket Sandy Bridge-E processors, a 9-phase power design, an 8-layer, 2 oz Copper PCB, four DDR3-2400 memory slots, and three PCI-Express x16 3.0 slots which enable Quad CrossFireX and 3-way SLI setups.

The TPower X79 also sports dual 8-pin EPS connectors, one PCI and two PCIe x1 slots, three SATA 3.0 Gbps and four SATA 6Gbps ports, one eSATA connector, Gigabit Ethernet, six USB 3.0 ports on the back plate, 7.1-channel audio, a debug LED, UEFI BIOS, and on-board Power, Reset and Clear CMOS buttons. The board is aimed at the enthusiast/overclocking market and should be available next month.

With Newegg in one corner as the second-largest online retailer in the U.S. and the number one destination for tech-savvy shoppers, with Amazon the top U.S. e-tailer in the other corner, both releasing their holiday best-selling item reports.

Neweggs list contains:

Laptops/Notebooks: 15.6" Asus A53E-EH91

Apple's biggest competitor, Samsung, will reportedly launch the Galaxy S III, the successor to the most popular Android smartphone on the market, Galaxy S II, at Mobile World Congress in February. At the same time they're said to be launching a new 3D-capable range of devices in the first quarter of 2012.

Almost a year after they launched the Galaxy S II, could Samsung really do it again? How could it be much better than the Galaxy S II? Well, it's expected to sport a quad-core processor and possibly even include 3D technology as Samsung look to differentiate their phone from the iPhone.

With 3D photo and video recording capabilities being baked into additional Samsung-branded smartphones next year, coming to a device being referred to as Galaxy S 3D, which helps users deliver 3D content to their 3D TVs. This device could be launched in Q2 2012. Right now, of course, the usual pinch of salt is required.

We all know the next Grand Theft Auto outing is going to be huge, but when EEDAR's Jesse Divnich spoke to IndustryGamers as part of his feature on the top five predictions for 2012 (other than the world ending), he noted that GTA V will generate the most sales next year. and not the next Call of Duty game.

He's been quoted:

It goes without saying that GTA V will be one of the year's biggest releases, but I will take it one step farther and say GTA V will be 2012's biggest release. Don't get me wrong, Call of Duty will undoubtedly be huge, as it is every year and it may even grow, but if I had to call what will be a photo finish race, I will go with GTA V.